Page 19 of Alien Viking's Plunder

“That’s a lot of metals,” she said tightly. “Plundered fromUnitystation. These bars were mined in the asteroid belt and were taken toUnitybefore they would be sent down to Earth. Looks like these guys timed their raid well, just when the station was really full of all kinds of goods.” She remembered being notified many times in the past month about the station having to use its small rocket engines to keep it in the same orbit. All the goods scheduled for transport to Earth were making the station heavier, causing it to drift closer to the planet.

She got back up and walked along the corridor, finding several more hatches to the cargo hold. But they were closed and far too heavy for her to lift open. In the middle of the hull the bottom part of the mast went all the way down to the keel. Josie kept her distance to it — she had never seen metal glow white like that without giving off any heat. The keel itself was also metal, but it didn’t glow.

She made her way back to the deck. The crew were about a dozen aliens, mainly males, but also a few females. Now they were mostly sitting around chatting, while Bragr stood at the rudder way in the back.

Up here, the mast still glowed in white and the sails were invisible, but they pulled on the ropes in the rigging. The whole ship creaked and swayed. Maybe Aretha was on to something when she was talking about other dimensions — whatever was going on with those sails, it was unpleasant to look at.

Josie also made sure to not look too closely at the swirling insanity in space around the ship, noticing that the crew members had the same idea. Only Bragr in the aft of the ship was staring into the chaos ahead, some mysterious wind blowing his golden hair out behind him.

The other crew members all turned to look at her.

She had a sudden urge to duck back down below the deck. Those were some intense, alien eyes they had. And she was acutely aware that all those Vikings were much taller than her, including the females.

She forced down the impulse to flee and walked over to the nearest group. The wooden deck was vibrating under her boots, but not enough to bring her off balance.

She noticed the warriors discreetly putting their hands on their swords as she approached. It made her feel better, for some reason — maybe they were a little bit scared of her, too.

“I be Josie,” she began in their language, helped by her enhancement. She met the hard gazes from them all, concentrating to not flinch. “I want ask something.”

The neural lace had clearly processed more of the language, and now she was expressing herself better. Not bad when dealing with a totally alien language. She knew the lace was good, but she was starting to suspect she had not been told everything about its capabilities.

“Then ask,” said one of the males, looking her up and down.

“I speak bad. But I want speak not bad,” Josie said. “Is word I not know. Is word for attack an attacker. After he attack and injure me. Long after, I attack because he injure me. What is word?”

They looked at each other, clearly confused.

“Hefn,” one of them finally said.

Josie’s lace immediately filed it as the right word for ‘revenge’.

“Hefn. I want you know, you plunder me. Is bad. I will gethefnon you all.” She looked them in the eye, one after the other.

It might not be the best icebreaker, telling them all she would get revenge for them abducting her. But Josie was determined to have these guys see her as a person and not a piece of loot.

“Seeking revenge is a dangerous thing,” one of the females said, slowly getting to her feet. “Especially when you warn your enemy in advance.” She towered over Josie, casting her in shadow.

Josie swallowed. She was on thin ice here, suddenly realizing that anything she said might offend someone and cause them to kill her. She had to remember that they were aliens, and not all of them would be as slow to anger as Bragr.

“Are you enemy?” she asked, keeping her voice steady. “I not know. Revenge is fair when plundered. You plunder me, I get revenge. Is fair. No need be enemy.” It made no sense, but it was the best she had right now.

The female frowned, hand clenching around the handle of her ax. “If it is revenge you want, perhaps I should give you something worth avenging—”

“Siv!” came a thundering yell from the aft of the ship. “Sit down and take your hand off that ax!”

The warrior looked back at Bragr, jaw tight. “Yes, Captain,” she growled and let go of her weapon. “It’s not honorable to slaughter an unarmedthrall, I suppose. She doesn’t have the marks of a warrior at all.”

Josie knew the meaning of the word: slave.

“I am not thrall,” she said calmly. “And not will be.” She glanced back at Bragr. Was that the idea? They raided the station to steal not just goods, but people, too? She had a vague recollection that the ancient Vikings on Earth did just that. She suddenly felt much less admiration for Bragr. Was he a slave trader? But he had probably just saved her life. That Viking woman wasn’t one to trifle with.

“She may not have the marks of a warrior,” one of the others said, running his finger along the tattoos on his chest, “but she beat up both Eystein and Haraldr. With a small stick.”

The woman warrior frowned, glancing at the two men Josie had met on the station, sitting by the railing of the ship. “Shebeat them up?”

“Look at them,” said the man. “They can barely stand up.”

“So? She has no Marks,” the woman scoffed. “She will never be a warrior. Or do you propose she go through the Trials and the Ice Caves and get some? It would kill her.”

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